


A Kappa's Past

by JustAndrea



Series: Mikey, Michika and Hueso Jr Stories [5]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Backstory, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Child Abandonment, Introspection, Not So Great Parents, Stealing, runaway character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29634345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Michi couldn’t remember her parents’ faces anymore. If they were standing silent in a crowd filled with other kappas, she honestly wasn’t sure if she’d be able to pick them out.But she could remember their voices, the feel of their hands and the history that she shared with them.
Relationships: Michelangelo (TMNT) & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Mikey, Michika and Hueso Jr Stories [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823638
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	A Kappa's Past

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote out this backstory fic for Michika! Yaaaaaaay.
> 
> Okay so, this is super self-indulgent but idk, I just really wanted to get Michi's history written out as well as just sorta get into her head. She's so much fun to write and I've just gotten extremely attached to this OC and the relationships she's formed with other characters, and to all of those people who have supported my Michi-related fics and have told me how much you enjoy her as a character: Thank you so SO much for everything, and I appreciate it more than words could ever say. Thank you!
> 
> But yeah, I hope you all enjoy some kappa-girl backstory ^v^ (Also, I did end up connecting this fic to "Part of the Fam" a bit, if anyone recognizes the scenes or dialogue I borrowed from it, but this fic still stands on its own, so no worries there. Okay, here we go!)

Michi couldn’t remember her parents’ faces anymore. If they were standing silent in a crowd filled with other kappas, she honestly wasn’t sure if she’d be able to pick them out.

But she could remember their voices.

Her father was quiet, and just a bit gruff. Sometimes encouraging, sometimes scolding, but mostly just sort of tired. Old-fashioned might have been a good way to describe it.

Her mother was a bit more loud, a bit more guiding. Whenever she spoke, she had expected Michi to listen, and would keep repeating herself until she did.

She could never forget their voices, or the feel of their hands.

\------------------------------

As far back as Michi could remember, her mother would always try to keep a hold on her. She would always reach for Michi’s hand and hold it tight, subtly pulling her back whenever Michi would try to slip away. Even as a toddler, she’d find herself wanting to follow the flow of the river as far as it would go.

“Careful,” her mother would say as she pulled her back, “Stay close.” But Michi would keep trying, wanting to see just how far the river would go, and her mother would keep catching her and pulling her back. “Stay close, Michika,” she’d tell her, a bit more forceful now as she pulled Michi into her arms, carrying her the rest of the way as they swam.

Her family had a home in some village that she didn’t remember the name of, somewhere along a river with plenty of trees and plants and other kappa and various water-yokai living beside them. A couple of mermaids, maybe, and suikos that would always prefer catching fish over farming and scavenging for riverweeds and veggies. (She liked fish okay too, but nothing could beat a water-soaked cucumber.)

Every couple seasons, however, they’d travel to the city. On the North side, her father would get some extra work at the Hidden City docks. Michi and her mother meanwhile would stay at an older cousin’s place, another small village just on the Southwest outskirts of the city and help out with chores or visit the shallow beach near her cousin’s home. 

But, every once in a while, her mother would take her along on errands and she’d get to see the true wonder of the glorious Hidden City.

She was only about three or four years old the first time she was lucky enough to sneak away - and Michi wasn’t sure if she would ever forget that feeling. The feeling of complete and utter freedom.

The city was so big and bright. There was no one telling her what to do or where to go or where not to go, she could make those choices for herself. So, Michi simply picked a direction and started walking. She walked and grinned and looked and laughed- she wasn’t scared at all, and even if she was by herself, she certainly didn’t feel alone. She had herself, and she was plenty.

And then it all came crashing down.

She had only been able to wander around for an hour or so when a police officer stopped her. Michi had tried to run, and tripped over a stray crack in the path. Her water spilled out over the sidewalk, and she could do nothing as the police officer picked her limp body up and carried her away. 

Her mother had held her tightly after she was returned, telling her how afraid she had been. Michi tried to explain how it hadn’t been scary at all. Her mother told her never to wander off again, and carried her back to her cousin’s home.

\------------------------------

From then on, each time one of her parents took her to the city, Michi would run off again - and even when they weren’t in the city, she’d still find herself running off, craving exploration and fun. She’d try to be sneaky about it - kappas were supposed to be clever, after all. She’d try to cover whatever footprints she’d leave in the sand and dirt, or peek around corners before dashing out.

But Michi was still little, and still very easy to catch - or knock over. And, each time an officer or shopkeeper or one of her parents filled her head back up, they’d then tell her to follow them. Of course she wouldn't want to, but the bubbly, prickling, burning sensation she’d then feel in the back of her bowl would force her to obey. She was really starting to hate having a bowl, and all the consequences that came with it.

Naturally as she grew, Michi became a bit more rebellious. But no matter how much they’d argue with each other, Michi knew her parents cared about her, at least a little. They wouldn't take care of her otherwise, right?

She could remember that her father would bring her home pretty dresses that were a lot fancier than the denim she preferred, the colors and light fabric reminding her of the flowers that grew near their river. Michi would put them on, not really caring much either way, and would just go play. By the end of the day, the dresses reminded her more of swamp lilies with all the water and mud now on them, leading to her father getting frustrated.

_ “I was just having fun,” _ she would tell him.

_ “There are other ways to have fun,” _ he would reply.

_ “But they aren’t AS fun!” _ Her father would just sigh at her. Michi would add that she still liked the dress if only for her father's sake, promising that she didn't care if it was dirty and would still wear it, but her father didn't seem to agree. He stopped bringing her dresses after a while, and would instead bring home dolls that she never had much interest in and colorful ribbons that would get weaved into her long black hair.

She could remember that her mother would try to make her favorite foods. Lots of cucumber dishes or dishes filled with cold noodles and fruit and mushrooms and her favorite bitter flavors. Michi would always enjoy them, and ate every single bit of it, never leaving a plate unclean and always being grateful and appreciative, even remembering her pleases and thank yous just as she was taught. But as yummy as the meals were, it was almost never enough for her.

_ “Can I have a snack?”  _ she’d ask.

_ “You just ate,” _ her mother would tell her,  _ “You don’t need another snack.” _

_ “But I’m hungry and I want one! Please just one snack?” _

_ “I’ll get you some juice instead, alright? That will fill you up plenty until supper.” _

_ “But I want a snack-!” _

_ “ _ **_Michika._ ** _ You can wait until after supper. You’re not hungry.” _

_ “But I want one…” _ Michi became pretty good at sneaking snacks out of cabinets and other hiding spots. She knew the layouts of the kitchen - both the one at her home and the one at her cousin’s - very well. Her mother never did manage to find a perfect, daughter-proof hiding spot, and a part of Michi still took some pride in that.

The days where they all went swimming together weren’t too bad. Naturally, Michi would feel completely at home in the water, as if it could drown all her troubles away. She’d laugh and splash and swim, practically dancing with each stroke. But then she’d hear one of her parents tell her not to swim so far out, always wanting to keep her in their eyesight, and she’d get the urge to sink to the bottom out of spite.

Each time Michi was taken to the city, she’d try running off, and her parents would do everything to try and keep a hold on her. From scolding, to bribing, and everything in-between. Really, there was nothing more embarrassing as a six year old than being carried in her father’s arms like a baby or being kept on a harness like a toddler when she refused to hold her mother’s hand, always pulling her wrist out of her grip.

Her parents yelled too much, Michi would often think during these moments, and were way too bossy. She’d argue and whine, and they’d tell her to grow up. She wanted to scream at them that she WAS grown up - grown up enough to walk around on her own - but they never listened.

Still, the three of them kept the peace well enough when they were at home or at her cousin’s village, sharing meals and conversations. Her mother would try to teach her how to clean the plants they harvested while her father would try and teach her how to forage. They had their moments of peace, moments that might have even felt a little nice… but it never felt more than temporary.

On their really bad days, her mother would refuse to take Michi with her to the city, having her much older cousins watch her instead. But Michi would sneak out anyway, and would do everything she could not to get caught and brought back home. When she inevitably was, the yelling she got from both of her parents was even worse. Michi would yell back, but she never felt heard.

But the worst day? Michi couldn’t forget that either…

It was at the beginning of the season. They had just made it to the Hidden City after the long half-walk, half-swim from their home village, and her parents wanted to grab some groceries to bring to her cousin’s. Her parents had already warned her not to run off, but at the tender age of seven, she was finding it even harder to listen to them.

In her defense, Michi had tried to stay put, if only because she didn’t want to deal with the yelling. But it had been half a year since the last time she had been in the Hidden City, and there was so much to see and do, and standing beside her parents’ side as they walked and shopped was just so BORING! What’s worse, her stomach was growling, and looking at all of the food just made her hungrier.

But Michi didn’t need to ask her parents for a snack that she only had half a chance of actually getting. She knew she was clever, and she knew how to get food for herself. So, when the perfect moment came - her father comparing cabbages while her mother spoke with an old friend that she recognized - Michi snuck away.

She had been planning on grabbing an easy snack - something that could be taken without anyone noticing. But then, she noticed a shop that hadn’t been there during her last visit to the city. A new candy shop, and a pretty fancy looking one too. Unable to help herself, Michi walked inside.

It was some of the most delicious-looking candy she had ever seen, and the fact that they were  _ mystic _ candies made them even more appealing. She spared a glance at the owner, who was distracted by the bon-bons she was putting in the display case. Human-like with short and dark-red hair, looking pretty tough and punk for a candy maker, wearing a plaid shirt, black pants and a choker with gold gem on her neck. Only a jorogumo wore a gem like that…

Michi looked at the candy, then at the woman, then at the candy again. ...Looking back on that day, Michi admitted that while she may have been clever for a seven year old kappa, she still hadn’t necessarily been a  _ smart _ kappa.

Despite her being distracted, it still only took the jorogumo a couple minutes for her to notice what Michi was doing. In an extra bit of bad luck, Michi heard an alarm go off the moment she dashed out the shop’s door. A mystic security system, then. 

But Michi just kept running, hoping that if she was just fast enough and tricky enough, she could get away with her treats and get back to her cousin’s village before the police or anyone else caught up to her.

It only took the jorogumo about five minutes to wrap Michi up in her pink webbing.

The jorogumo took back all the candy, and hissed when she saw that Michi had eaten some of it. The police left her hanging in the webs until her mother finally picked her up, with both they and the shop owner insisting that she pay for all the pricey sweets that her daughter ate. And her mother… She had looked angrier than Michi had ever seen her.

_ “I just don’t understand why you do these things, Michika,”  _ her mother had said as she dragged - practically yanked Michi down the familiar dirt path to her cousin’s village,  _ “Do you hate us that much? Why do you always have to cause such trouble? Why can’t you just be good?!” _

_ “I’m sorry, okay?” _ Michi grumbled,  _ “I was just hungry, I wasn’t thinking-” _

_ “You NEVER think!”  _ her mother screamed, whirling around to face her,  _ “You’re always running off! You never listen! We’ve done everything for you, so why can’t you just do as you’re told?” _

_ “But you never listen too!”  _ Michi argued back, stomping her foot,  _ “I just wanna have fun and be happy but you never-!” _

**_“Michika, you are a child!”_** her mother interrupted, _“You think you can just do what you want and just be selfish and foolish without any consequences, but you can’t! So stop being such a brat and just be good! And if you do anything like this again, so help me I’ll- I’ll dump out all your water and just leave you on some street corner! So learn to behave or I’ll teach you!”_

The last few words of her rant seemed to echo around them. Not even the crickets or cicadas seemed to make a sound, and Michi could only stare back at her mother, unable to say a word.

Her mother stared back, a bit breathless as her hand remained tightly gripped around Michi’s wrist.  _ “...Come along, Michika,” _ she told her after what seemed like an eternity of silence, her voice only a little above a whisper now,  _ “We should get back to Aito's before it gets too dark.” _

And just like that, it was over. Michi was taken home, and her mother didn’t say another word as she served her supper. Her father did scold her a bit, and had her wash the dishes afterwards, but nothing ever came of her mother’s threat, it never being mentioned again.

After that incident, her parents kept a closer eye on her. Even at her young age, her father would sometimes have her help him at the docks. Her mother would keep a closer eye on her and give her chores to do or books from the Mystic Library to read.

Michi didn’t try to steal again, but she did still run off whenever she had a chance or would try to swim as far as she could when visiting the beach - still was eventually brought back home, still scolded, the same old routine each time. She and her family would still tolerate each other on the good days, and have arguments on the bad days. 

By the end of the season, she was taken back to her home village, and things became even more monotonous. Maybe she hadn’t been trapped there in a traditional sense, but she still felt like a prisoner.

There were nights where after supper Michi would go lay down in the cold river water near their house, floating peacefully as she stared up at the shifting colors of the underground realm’s mystic sky until her parents called her in. Other times she’d look out towards the horizon - towards the lights of the city - and think about how much more there was to explore and how much fun she could have been having.

Back then, she couldn’t wait to be a grown up. She couldn’t wait until she could be on her own.

\--------------------------

Eventually, the seasons shifted once again, and they made the trip back to her cousin’s. Back to the Hidden City. She had just turned eight years old a few weeks ago. She had yellow ribbons tying her pigtails together, her hair a bit stringy and tangled since she only let her mother actually comb it out a couple times each week.

As always, her parents tried to keep her from swimming too far ahead or running off when they started getting closer to the city. But each time she pulled away, they would take just a bit longer to grab onto her again…

Even so, they rushed her through the city, not stopping for groceries and making it to the Southwest village in great time. Her cousin had prepared them a huge meal with plenty of yummy things, which Michi had been more than happy about, even if her parents didn’t let her have thirds and would only give her one portion of dessert. She had been annoyed, but the green tea that had been served with the meal brought a smile back to her beak.

She had slept soundly that night, but still ended up waking fairly early. The colors in the sky were still shifting from dark blues and purples to pinks and teals. Michi had thought about simply sneaking off to the beach for an early morning swim, but a thought came to her as she quietly closed the door of the old village home: How many people would be out in the city this early? How many officers would be out on patrol?

Still smiling to herself, Michi headed towards the lights of the city. In the back of her mind, she knew that by the time afternoon rolled around, her parents would have police searching for her or would have found her themselves, and she’d be scolded for running off and dragged back to the village. 

But until then, she would enjoy herself, and no one was there to stop her. She didn’t have a particular path or section of the city in mind, and she didn’t care. She just kept walking, choosing directions on a whim and flipping her choices whenever something neat or fun caught her eye, and stopping only when she felt like stopping. She also used the meager bronze and silver coins that she had saved up for snacks and ate whatever she wanted, keeping her stomach growls away for the most part.

It was only when the street lamps on the corners and the lanterns that hung along the shopping districts began to light up again did Michi realize how long she had been out. No officers had stopped her due to her matching the description of a reported runaway, and she had heard neither of her parents call her name. The entire time she was out, no one had come looking for her.

_ “...Huh.” _ That was all Michi could really say.

She knew the way to her cousin’s village like the back of her webbed hand… But why would she go back if no one was telling her to do so? Why would she want to go back? So, instead of walking to the Southwest side of the city and heading down that familiar dirt path, Michi instead headed to a park she liked - one that she knew had a nice and clean pond. Once there, she simply dived in and soon fell into a peaceful sleep underneath the water’s surface.

The next day brought the same results. Michi would walk around, exploring both new and familiar sites throughout the city and occasionally stopping for snacks. She had run out of coins to spend, but stalls at farmer’s markets and bazaars didn’t have security systems to worry about and fruit was easy to swipe.

As much fun as she was having, a part of her kept waiting for that inevitable yell or that sensation of someone grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. But it never came, and she spent another night sleeping in the park’s pond. Then another night, and another, and another.

Why hadn’t they come looking for her yet, Michi quietly wondered. At the same time, she questioned why a part of her even cared. Her curiosity wasn’t enough to make her want to go back to the village -  _ either _ village - and she was still more concerned with enjoying herself and enjoying the peace that came with being on her own than thinking about whatever her parents were doing at that moment.

Maybe they just couldn’t find her. The city was pretty big, after all, and she had gotten a pretty good head start, leaving no tracks or clues for them to follow.

Maybe they didn’t want to find her. Maybe they were just as tired of the arguing as she was, or figured that she was better off alone, or they were trying to teach her some sort of lesson.

Maybe it was a little of both. Maybe it was neither. 

Maybe, maybe, maybe... 

Michi wondered about all the maybes for exactly one week, and after that week passed with no signs of her parents, she decided that having no answer was a good enough answer. She had gotten the freedom she wanted. It didn’t matter how, but she had it - and it was time to start enjoying it.

\--------------------------

Michika could admit, it had taken her a while to find her footing as a young yokai that was truly out on her own. 

The park’s groundskeeper had finally noticed her late night trespassing and kicked her out of the pond. Her hunger was growing enough that she needed more than a swiped cucumber or two to satisfy it. People were starting to take notice of her, and while they weren’t specifically calling her a runaway anymore, she was still gaining enough of a reputation for the HCPD to start keeping an eye out for her again.

But as much as she was starting to feel her struggles, Michi was still a kappa. She was still clever and tricky and  _ fast _ . She started looking for shortcuts and perfected her technique and would remind herself not to take dumb risks for the sake of something extra yummy.

On the days she couldn’t get away with stealing her meals, Michi still knew how to forage for edible plants in parks and ponds and rivers. Maybe she didn’t appreciate everything about being a kappa, but Michi definitely appreciated her kappa taste buds.

She had been willing to dumpster dive whenever foraging failed as well. Those skills definitely helped on the tough days - and though she didn’t really care about scavenging or stealing anything else, she had been grateful to find a straw hat that was not only sorta pretty, but also helped cover up her biggest weakness.

Being such a big city, of course there were other kids that hung out on the streets. Some were just regular kids who had homes to get back to, and some were runaways like her. Quite a few were part of groups or clubs or small gangs that cared about things she didn’t, like having their own turf and old rivalries with other kids that she didn’t even know. Most of them were a lot older than her too, which made her even less interested, not wanting to get bossed around again.

Some kids, however, were pretty nice - nice enough that she could even call them friends. Granted she wasn’t super close with any of them, but they’d offer her further tips on how to avoid getting caught and would look the other way whenever she mooched snacks off them, so she liked them well enough.

Additionally, meeting other kids reminded her that she couldn’t just focus on exploring and trying to survive - she had to focus on having fun too. The games she’d occasionally play with these kids, or the pranks that she would start to pull on the people that annoyed her enough, thankfully taught her plenty about fun. Even if she never stuck around afterwards, she’d always enjoy those days.

Other days, though, Michi would drift back to her old habits. She’d wander around for hours - sometimes even days - in the glowing mushroom forests and beaches near the city, enjoying having only herself for company. Other days she’d load up on calories and then spend a full day swimming, both just to enjoy the sensation of being completely surrounded by her home element and to see how far she could get. And other days, she’d simply walk up and down the Hidden City streets, challenging herself to find something cool or new or interesting.

Within a couple years, Michi not only became at home in the city, but knew as much about it as a local would. No longer a mystery or an exciting adventure, the city simply became her open playground, with even the so-called dangerous places like Devil’s Backbone or the Crying Titan battlefield being nothing more than exciting side-trips for her.

The only places in the Hidden City that she avoided, however, were any buildings and areas owned by arachnid queenpin herself, Big Mama. She had both heard and seen enough examples of the jorogumo’s cruelty and power in the few years she had been there to know that it'd be a death sentence to even get noticed by her, much less try to steal from her. The last thing Michi wanted was to get caught in Big Mama’s web and forced to be a maid at her hotel or, even worse, become cannon fodder for the Battle Nexus.

Still, even with that self-imposed limitation on herself, Michika had plenty to enjoy in the city - and, when she realized that there was a whole other realm to explore, she had even  _ more _ to do and see.

Most yokai didn’t pay too much mind to the humans above, being cautious enough to casually avoid them or don a disguise but never afraid enough to prevent themselves from going up to the surface altogether. Michi, however, didn’t have a cloaking brooch and, from what she had heard, humans had come up with a pretty bad reputation for kappas. Like… ‘flesh-eating, human-drowning creatures’ bad. Even so, Michi thought it was kinda hilarious how humans could at one point be so terrified of a kappa of all things, and still took it upon herself to take a trip up to the surface the first chance that she could.

The human city - New York, as she would eventually learn - was both very similar to her home realm and yet completely different. It was certainly a lot quieter without dragons or simurghs or other giant creatures flying around (although all the cars and other machines certainly took care of that in terms of annoying noise), but it was still a city. A city filled with exciting new things, and familiar safe things like parks.

(She loved going to the city’s Central Park at night, where she could just find a nice patch of water to lay down in or a tree to sit under and just… look up at the stars for as long as she wanted. She didn’t entirely know what stars were, or why they only came out at night and only in spots where there wasn’t much luck, but they certainly were pretty…)

As such, there was plenty for Michi to do, even if she often had to go up to the surface late at night or early in the morning to do it. And, while other yokai might have considered the surface riskier or even dangerous, Michi ironically found the surface easier to deal with.

It was easier to avoid humans that already weren’t paying much attention, it was easier to snatch food from hidden yokai establishments on the surface since there weren’t any HCPD to deal with, and it was easier to come upon a random piece of good luck. Good luck that came in the form of a pink plastic and weirdly-shaped toy (weapon?) that she eventually came across on a playground somewhere, long abandoned by some human kid.

Michi had been around ten years old when she found her trusty water gun, and while it had taken her a bit to figure out how exactly it worked, she had been completely amazed when she saw what it could do. From that day on, two things became apparent:

Firstly, she finally had a way of defending herself and even attacking people that came after her - a way that didn’t involve simply running away or using her (admittedly fairly weak) webbed hands or beak.

And secondly… she had just assured herself that she would never have to worry about dealing with a completely empty bowl. She would never be forced to obey anyone who refilled her ever again, because she would be the only one refilling herself.

Filled with a strong feeling of independence and even more determination than usual, Michika took the water gun back with her to the Hidden City, and practiced with it every day. Maybe it wasn’t one of those uber-powerful mystic weapons or even something that deadly or powerful, but it was still hers. 

She had found it. She had taught herself how to use it. She made daring escapes using it, made it part of her pranks and her thieving, used it to help her in more ways than one. She relied on it - and she frankly, couldn’t have asked for anything better.

So, that was who Michi was. A lone kappa with a straw hat and a human-made water weapon who usually kept to herself, always focusing on having fun, keeping herself feeling full and just doing her own thing. She went wherever she wanted between both realms, took what she wanted, did whatever activities she wanted, and was usually able to eat what she wanted  _ whenever _ she wanted.

On her unlucky days, she’d sometimes get caught and tossed into some juvenile detention center, but she was never there for more than a couple days and was always able to escape, making sure to learn from each dumb mistake. So, other than those instances, Michi figured that she had a pretty good life. 

At thirteen (and a half) years old, Michi was happy with the life she had made for herself, her old life being practically ancient history at that point. (A history that she’d occasionally remember, occasionally think or wonder about depending on her mood that day, but history nonetheless.)

In the present, Michi was free to live the way  _ she _ wanted, without needing to rely on anyone or owe anyone or obey anyone… Just as she was free to mess with the pizzeria skeleton, figuring he wouldn’t miss a few cucumbers and some other veggies when he already had a whole pantry filled with food.

Of course, that had been the night that things seemed to change. Granted not everything changed, but just enough…

That had been the night she met him.

\-----------------------

Mikey was a bit of a strange one, Michi was sure of that. She was also sure that he was a total goodie-goodie, no matter how much Mikey tried to deny it. But, she could admit after a while, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Mikey was friendly, cheerful, and (best of all) fun. He got easily excited about things that were totally normal to her, and as goofy as he could sometimes seem, his enthusiasm was more than a little contagious. 

More than that, he seemed to be patient, and extremely generous. She was used to sneakily snatching bits of food from her friends instead of asking for a bite and having both her and them just laugh it off, but Mikey offered to cook her entire dishes, no strings attached. No conditions, and no making her feel like she’d owe him or that he would suddenly cut her off unless she did something for him.

In contrast, he was completely unwilling to be a pushover. Whenever she pranked him or messed with him, Mikey would pout a bit or get annoyed, but he never seemed to get angry - or if he did, it’d take only seconds for him to get over it. Then he’d just grin and try to get her back, which was always fun to see him try to do.

They’d play fight and mess with each other (especially whenever Mikey was in his home’s kitchen or at Run of the Mill and cooking up something she wanted), but they’d also work with each other. They’d play games or chase and shove each other around, splash each other or try and prank each other - but they’d almost never do it without smiling or laughing.

So, in some ways, Mikey was similar to the friends she had met on the streets of the Hidden City. But in other ways, Mikey was completely different.

Mikey was… comfortable. He was a talker, but he was also a listener. He’d give advice or his own thoughts without ever trying to forcefully change her, seeming to accept her wholeheartedly. Maybe that was why she usually ended up being so honest around him whenever he did ask her a question about her past.

_ “I guess… I guess I miss them but, also kinda don’t? I still like being on my own and doing my own thing but… I guess I’m just wondering more what could have been, you know? If I had stuck around or if they had searched for me that one last time, would we eventually start liking each other like you guys, or would we have just ended up totally hating each other?” _

Family was… still sometimes a sensitive topic for her, still brought back bad and frustrating memories… but she was thankful that Mikey’s family was never too overbearing. 

Granted, Michi never spent much time around his family, but the time she did spend with them, she thought they were pretty alright. His brothers were pretty cool and were friendly towards her, his sister was the most chill human she had ever met, she thought his goldfish-sister was a blast to hang out with and his father… 

Well, admittedly, Michi tended to avoid spending one-on-one time with him, though not necessarily because of anything Mikey’s rat-dad did. At the very least, she appreciated that Splinter would sometimes make her green tea if she was sharing a meal with the rest of Mikey’s family. 

Additionally, the friends he’d introduce her to - Hueso Jr. and Sunita and the former Baron Draxum and their super-happy and sorta weird capybara friend/uncle - would usually be just as welcoming and friendly towards her, as if she was already in their group without her needing to prove it. It was.. nice.

_ “You could be a part of the fam too, if you want. No obligation, and we wouldn’t tell you what to do or how often to visit. You could come and go as often as you’d like... We would just be right here whenever you’d need us.” _

Michi still couldn’t bring herself to call them her family and wasn’t sure she ever would, not really knowing if she ever wanted one. But she was happy to call them - to call him - her friends.

But without a doubt, the thing that Michi liked most about Mikey was just how exciting things were with him and how many new experiences she had with him.

Even when Michi insisted that she was only there to taste test, Mikey would still teach her about spices and flavor-combos and cooking techniques that were actually pretty interesting and even fun to try and do herself. When she didn’t have a kitchen of her own, actually cooking something was a bit of a luxury.

When Mikey was in an artsy mood, he’d go on and on about various art subjects as he tried to explain the vibes that he was going for with his latest project while Michi would just sit back and watch him work as she listened (usually while munching on some sort of quick and easy snack). 

Sometimes he’d even pull her into the project, introducing her to the enjoyable fun of the splatter paint technique. Mikey introduced her to a lot of great things, in fact. To movies and video games, to new types of music and bits of surface culture, to roller skating and air hockey and sewer tubing and plenty of other fun and pretty amazing stuff.

And just like that, Michi was no longer so ‘on her own’.

She was still by herself a lot of the time, sure. She’d still spend days or nights alone whenever she felt like being alone, doing her own thing and having fun on her own. She didn’t need to depend on anyone to be happy, and she never felt as though she did.

But at the same time, Michi never felt as though she needed to avoid spending time with Mikey and Junior and the others either. That she needed to keep her distance or avoid becoming dependent on them. That they were trying to hold (or pull) her back. 

If anything, even when Mikey would grab her hand (always gentle yet firm, always just loose enough that she could still slip away without much effort), he’d still seem to run beside her instead of trying to get in front of her.

He’d never order but would always invite, and the more Michi hung out with him, the more often she’d accept. And maybe that was okay too.

Maybe it was good to have someone - or multiple someones - who she was so close to. Who she cared about and was loyal to. 

Maybe she didn’t have to worry about things going bad, or Mikey getting too angry or too frustrated with her and eventually leaving her behind. 

Maybe it was good to not be so on her own all of the time, and it was okay to accept gifts and favors - things that she didn’t mind returning because it was an act of personal gratitude and not obligation. 

Maybe she didn’t need complete independence to be happy.

Maybe, maybe, maybe…

\--------------

There were a lot of maybes that Michika often wondered when she was at the bottom of a lake or river or ocean, alone with just her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep, but while she could still acknowledge that they were there before letting them flow far away like ocean waves, Michi always tried to make sure that they never weighed her down.

She never cared about maybes, and didn't _want_ to care or worry about maybes. All Michi cared about was being happy and full and free, and if she could still be all of those things while still having people close to her in her life, if she could open her heart to others and still be okay in the end- well, then so be it. 

She chose how to live her life, and she chose Mikey and Junior and all of the people (the family) that came with them - and even with her occasional doubts, that was still a choice that she could  _ definitely _ live with.

**THE END**


End file.
